Hitching device



(No Model.)

L. LEWIS.

.HITGHING DEVICE.

No..332,914. Patented Dec. 22, 1885'.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS LEWIS, or IRONTON, OHIO.

HITCHING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 332,914, dated December 22, 1885.

Application filed March 27, 1885. Serial No. 160,390. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known, that I, LEWIS LEWIS, of Ironton, in the county of Lawrence and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Hitching Device, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is a side view of my new and improved horse hitching device as it appears when closed, and Fig. 2 is a similar view as it appears when open.

The invention will first be described in connection with the drawings, and then pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the main body or stock of the device. To the opposite edges of this are secured the spring hooks or jaws B B, that are adapted to be opened, as shown in Fig. 2, or closed, as shown in Fig. 1, in which latter position the jaws are adapted to grasp a hitching-post, tree, or other object for holding the horse.

Through the stock A passes loosely the rod 0. To the outer end of this is attached the eye-plate c, to which a strap, small rope, or chain may be attached. To the inner end of the rod 0 is secured the D-shaped plate 0, and to this is secured one end of thetwo springs D D, the opposite ends being attached to the inner edges of thejaws B B, as shown.

Within the central space, E, of the stock A the rod 0 is formed or provided with the collar d, and upon the rod 0 is placed the coiled spring F, that acts between the said collar d and the lower end of the stock, seats to assist in forcing the rod 0 from its position shown in Fig. 2 to that shownin Fig. 1, and thisspring 0 also acts to hold the jaws in closed position.

To open the jaws for attaching the device to or detaching it from any object to which the horse may be hitched, the rod 0 must be forced toward the points of the jaws,which will permit them to be opened by the hands ofthe user; then upon releasing the jaws the springs D D F Will draw the jaws closed, so that the jaws will hold very firmly to any object to which they are applied.

The device is very practical, strong, and cheap, and convenient, as itmay be very quickly attached to and detached from the bitring.

Having thus described my invention, what I 5 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a hitching device, the combination, with the stock, the rod sliding in bearings therein, and an expansible spring on said rod, of the spring-jaws secured at one end to the stock, and springs connecting the sliding rod with said jaws, all arranged and adapted to operate substantially as set forth.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, 65 a hitching device consisting of the stock A, the spring-armsB, havingaten-dency to spring outward, the sliding rod O, having an eye, 0, collar (1, and end piece, 0, the springs D, connected to the lower end of the rod Oand to the jaws B, as shown, and the expansible spring F on the rod 0, between the collar d and the stock, substantially as set forth.

LEWIS LEWIS. 

